How to Optimize Your Home Network

Reduce latency and lag with these tips.

By Whitson Gordon

Updated: 31 Mar 2020 5:12 pm

Posted: 30 Mar 2020 10:33 pm

You may be willing to put up with half-baked Wi-Fi when you’re sitting around browsing Facebook, but when you start working from home, the stakes change. Now your network is more important than ever – so here’s how to improve your Wi-Fi speed and keep your network stable and secure.

Where to Position Your Router

If you’re relying on Wi-Fi, then you need to get your router as out in the open as possible – aesthetics be damned. If it’s currently in a closet or hidden behind your DVD collection, get it out. Put it up high, where there aren’t many obstructions, and try to keep it as centrally located as you can. I once bought a long Ethernet cable to hang my router above the door outside the office, avoiding interference from an old plaster wall – sometimes, you have to do something ugly while you wait for a better solution.

Photo by Misha Feshchak on Unsplash

If you’re having trouble finding a good spot, an app like HeatMapper may help you find the ideal location in your house – but it’s probably going to be somewhere near the center. If your internet line comes in somewhere else, you may need to run some extra coaxial cable to a better location, or have your internet provider come out and do it for you.

As you try different locations, test your internet speed around the house. Compare the results of a site like Speedtest.net with the number on your internet bill, to make sure you’re getting the best internet speeds possible in every room.

How to Access Network Settings

Once you’ve got the best coverage you can get, it’s time to dig into your router’s settings and tweak a few things. If you’ve never done this before, it can sound a little daunting at first, but don’t worry: we’ll walk you through the basics.

Some routers have their own dedicated app, but for most, you’ll need to type the router’s IP address into your browser’s address bar. This is a series of numbers that denotes its “location” on the network, usually something like 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 – in some cases, it may be 10.0.0.1 instead. Try entering those into your browser and see if they come up with – if they don’t produce a login page, you may want to follow these instructions on finding your router’s IP address.

If you don’t know the username and password to log into your router, there’s a good chance you’re still using the default username and password it came with. These are sometimes printed on a sticker on the router itself, or it’s just “admin” as the username and “admin” or “password” for the password. If those don’t work, check out routerpasswords.com for a database of common credentials for different manufacturers. (Once you’re logged in, you should change this default password to something more unique – that way, ne’er-do-wells can’t access your network settings.)

How to Upgrade Router Firmware

If this is the first time in a long time that you’ve visited these settings, it’s probably a good time to update your router’s firmware – the code that makes it tick – before continuing. Newer firmware can contain security patches, bug fixes, and performance boosts. You’ll find this option in a Settings, Administration, or Update menu. Some routers can check for updates and download them automatically, while others may require you to visit the manufacturer’s website – like netgear.com – and download a firmware file. Just head to your manufacturer’s Support page, search for your router’s model number, and grab the firmware update. You can then upload it to your router’s settings page.

Basic Network Options

Now it’s time to start tweaking. Here are some things I recommend looking at:

Network Name and Band: Most routers these days are at least dual-band, which means they operate on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. 2.4GHz is common among household appliances and other devices, so there’s a lot of congestion on it – but it’s more widely supported, and has better penetration through walls. 5GHz is faster, but doesn’t reach as far.

Many routers create a separate network for each band – for example, SmithHouse_2G and SmithHouse_5G. I’m of the mind that you should have the same SSID, or network name, for both bands. Most modern devices will do a good job flipping between the two as you roam around the house, and that way you won’t get stuck on the slower 2.4GHz band just because you forgot to move to the separate SmithHouse_5G network. So under your general Wireless settings, change the name of your network to the same thing for both bands. If you find this causes problems with certain devices in your house (it’s been known to happen), you can always switch back to separate networks. Oh, and don’t hide your network’s SSID – it doesn’t increase your security, and it can cause problems with some devices.

Password: If your password is easy to remember, it’s probably also easy to crack. At worst, this allows people to join your network and hunt for sensitive personal information, and at best, your neighbor will clog up your Wi-Fi with their Netflix binges. Change it to something long and complex, with some symbols thrown in for good measure – if your password is on this list, I will make fun of you. While you’re at it, make sure it’s using the latest WPA2 style of encryption, not the older WEP, which is very easy to crack.

Disable Insecure Settings: While you’re rooting around, I recommend disabling features like WPS, UPnP, and Remote Administration. They can add some convenience to your network setup, but in general, they aren’t secure or crucial. Just turn them off if they aren’t already.

How to Reduce Network Congestion and Improve Wi-Fi Speed

Unless you live in a pretty rural area, you probably don’t have the only Wi-Fi network in the vicinity. Your neighbors will all have their own, and if you live in an apartment building, you’ll be competing for signal with dozens of other networks – and the more devices are on those networks, the more congested the airwaves become.

That’s why, if you can, I recommend using Ethernet wherever possible. If your house or apartment has Ethernet jacks, use them instead of Wi-Fi to plug in your TV, game consoles, and other devices. You can grab Ethernet cables cheaply on Amazon. If you don’t have Ethernet jacks, you can at least use some long cables to connect the most important devices to the router directly, if it’s nearby.

I also recommend disconnecting anything from Wi-Fi that isn’t crucial. If you’re using an Apple TV for your streaming, then your TV probably doesn’t need to be on the network too. The same goes for your refrigerator – after all, do you really use its smart app to change the temperature that often?

Finally, a few settings can help make sure you’re getting the most out of your network. Back on that router settings page, look for the “Channel” setting. Many routers will do just fine set to Auto, but you can use an app like WiFi Analyzer (for Windows) or Netgear WiFi Analytics (for Android) to see which channels are the most congested in your area. You generally want to pick channel 1, 6, or 11 – whichever has the fewest surrounding networks. (Sorry, iPhone users, Apple doesn’t allow apps to access this data in iOS, so you’ll have to use one of the tools above.)

Some routers also have a Quality of Service setting (QoS). This allows you to prioritize certain types of traffic over others – that way, if your internet speed is saturated by other people in your house, you can make sure gaming takes precedence over regular web browsing and Netflix streaming. If you can, try to plan for those congestion periods ahead of time – download junior’s Netflix shows so he can watch them offline while you’re working, or download those big files later on when you aren’t trying to video chat with family. If you can anticipate those needs, you can cut down on network congestion when it’s most bothersome.

What to Look for When You Upgrade

If all else fails, you may need some better gear to manage the flow of traffic through your house. Nicer routers are not only faster, but they come with more of the above features to ensure they can handle everything you throw at them. If you have a larger home, you may want a mesh system to ensure you get Wi-Fi signal to every corner of the house. And again – I know I sound like a broken record, but this is huge – the more you can wire up with Ethernet, the better. If you already have decent gear, that extra money might be better spent on an electrician who can run a few Ethernet lines to the most crucial devices, like your work PC or gaming rig. Then you’ll never have to worry about Wi-Fi woes again.